Why are conservatives skeptical of environmental claims? Solyndra and Fisker

The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, stressed the importance of the marketing message. Conservatives react more favorably to marketing messages that stress energy-efficiency or energy-independence than they do to saving the environment.

The study does not suggest that conservatives as a group do not support energy-efficient products. Rather, they are suspicious of failed programs to save the environment, such as the Solyndra and Fisker Automotive projects.

Acting upon a mandate to protect the environment, the government assumed the role of venture capitalist and poured millions of taxpayer dollars into these two failed companies.